


Imaginary Reality

by 50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret



Category: The Truman Show (1998)
Genre: Codependency, Cognitive Dissonance, Cohabitation, Coping, Courage, Culture Shock, Cynical, Cynicism, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Imagination, Psychological Drama, Shock, Show Business
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-08-20 03:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16547807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret/pseuds/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret
Summary: How would Truman cope after escaping the show?





	1. Chapter 1

He would have nowhere to go once he made it out to the parking-lot beyond the island. Maybe he sat for a long time and waited while Sylvia drove to pick him up. When she got there he stared at her. 

"You're real, right?" He might have asked. She wouldn't tell him even if she wasn't but he probably asked anyway. It was a long day he'd had to say the least and everything must have been overwhelming and confusing and he wouldn't have known what else to do. 

Maybe she said. "I'm real."  Maybe she said. "But it's okay if you don't believe me, Truman." 

Out of anything, that probably would be what would convince him he could still depend on her. He'd get in her little car and they'd drive. 

"Where are we going?" He'd probably ask. 

"Home." Seems like the answer she'd be most likely to give. 

"Fiji?" He'd ask, because his mind would be too muddled at that point to sort out what was real and what was a lie. 

"No." She'd have to say. "I don't actually live in Fiji. That's just something that man said to trick you." She'd put her hand on his. 

"Right." Truman would say. "Yeah. That makes sense. Sorry. That's stupid."

She'd probably reassure him by saying something like "That's not stupid. You've been through a lot, Truman." 

He'd probably just nod and curl in on himself a little. 

* * *

 

_I was waiting for them, waiting to ask questions with many other reporters. I saw her usher him inside. She screamed at us. Called us vultures. She gave us one last glare before she slammed her door in our faces. Truman was shivering the whole time. I wished I could be let inside, just to make sure he's okay. I've been watching him grow up my whole life. It feels like I've lost a friend. -- Debora Lopez_

* * *

He'd withdraw into himself, for the first few weeks at least, just staring into space. Truman is a resilient man, but anyone would be severely traumatized by what he'd been through. 

"I keep thinking." He'd probably tell her eventually, lying next to her. "How do I know any of this is real?" 

"I guess you don't." That would probably seem like a bad answer, but what else could she say? 

For some reason, I think he'd hug her when she said that. His whole life people have been trying to manipulate and convince him and coerce him and Sylvia lets him doubt. Sylvia is realer than anyone he has ever known. Sylvia. Not Lauren. She told him that the first chance she got. She's always been honest with him, or at least as honest as she could be. 

* * *

 He'd have strange ticks. Even before he left the apartment, which would take him several months. He'd remove the mirror to make sure there was no false backing. He'd yell at random moments to see what would happen. He'd be so paranoid and afraid all the time. He would have so many trust issues. Who wouldn't? 

* * *

 

The one thing that they fought about, in the beginning, would be wether or not he should see a therapist. 

"I can't let my guard down like that!" He'd tell her. "How do I know she's not in on it?!" He'd yell eventually.

"There's nothing to be in on." Sylvia's voice would probably break saying this. 

He'd devolve into nonsense here, most likely:  "I don't know that. You can't even know that! Can you? You? Are you?" something like that. The night would end with the emotional wounds still open and stinging and the television broken and Sylvia reading silently while he rested against her. 

* * *

_"I could never even contact him. All we -any of us [reporters] ever got was Sylvia, at best, and when she picked up the phone it was only to tell us to go to hell." -- Damyan Diomed_

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Sylvia would have to explain a lot of things to him probably. What it meant that she'd gone vegetarian a few years back, for instance. There were no vegetarians on the show. They'd stay in and, perhaps ironically, probably watch a lot of TV. Cartoons mostly, since Truman still wouldn't care much for "real-people actors" and wildlife documentaries. 

He'd be surprised, most likely, by the music she listened to. Happy stuff, strange for someone sad or outraged as often as she was, mixed in with fast, angry rap music. "It keeps me going." She'd likely say about either style. 

* * *

 _"Truman and I had a great marriage but it's over now and there's nothing more to say about it."_ \- Hannah Gill, the actress who played Maryl Burbank on The Truman Show

* * *

 _"With his status as a celebrity and a largely supportive fan-base, it wouldn't have been hard to get a nice place on his own, but Truman insisted that he was happy with Sylvia and that they had been apart for long enough."_ \- Orson Lotte, Truman: A Life After the Show

* * *

 _"No comment"_ \- Sylvia Michaels' infamous catchphrase. 

* * *

 

 _"I'm not just Meryl. I'm a lot of rolls. A lot of people. I think that tends to be overshadowed by the roll I played on the Truman Show."_ \- Hannah Gill

* * *

Truman's mother would probably have reached out to him soon after he left. Asking if he would just talk to her. If he could just be reasonable. She still raised him. She still held him as a baby. That still meant something. He'd talk to her on the phone, voice probably breaking on the word "Mom" 

"Yes Truman. It's me. Why don't we get brunch tomorrow?" She'd say, with sweetness that could have been fake or could have been real. 

 

 

He'd tell her, most likely, awkwardly, politely, that he wasn't ready. 

* * *

Transcript: Mornings with Mike:

MM: Good Morning, Truman, Thank you for joining us.

TB: Thanks for having me. 

MM: How does it feel to be on TV again.

TB: *laughs slightly* It...sure is something. At least I can see all the cameras this time. Or I think I can. *he makes a joking gesture to Mike's buttons*

MM: *laughs* Not to worry. We know how important privacy is to you.

TB: I don't think even I know that. 

MM: Have you spoken to the rest of the cast since the end of the show?

TB: The rest of the cast?

MM: Of the Truman Show

TB: What do you mean the rest? *smiling*

MM: Aside from yourself. 

TB: *smiling* I wasn't a cast member.

MM: You were  _the_ cast member.

TB: I was a prisoner. 

MM: So will you be demanding compensation, either for your work on the show or your  time there. 

TB: I'm sorta looking into legal stuff right now. I'm not sure if I will.

MM: And why is that?

TB: I'm ready to move on. Brighter days ahead. 

MM: Do you think you'll go swimming anytime soon.

TB: You never know, do ya?

MM: Well that's why I'm asking.

TB: *laughs* Yeah. 

MM: So, coming back to my original question, have you spoken to any of the cast members, aside from Sylvia of course. For those of us not caught up, you moved in with Sylvia immediately following your escape, is that right?

TB: Yeah.

MM: And the rest of the cast?

TB: I'm going to see my dad this weekend...we'll see how it goes. 

MM: Are you excited to see him, after years of thinking he was dead.

TB: It'll certainly be an experience. 

MM: And why is it, do you think it took you so long to figure out the nature of your reality?

TB: What about your reality?

MM: What about it?

TB: How do you know you're not on a 'Truman Show'? How do you know anything is real?

MM: *long pause* Fair enough. Well folks, that's all the time we have. 

* * *

 _"It's too bad it's over, but man, what an episode." -_ Elijah Camarelli, longtime fan of the Truman show

* * *

 

After some awkward hugs, once they sat down, the first thing Truman would probably ask his father might be "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry. I wanted to. I knew they'd never let me and I..."

"No. Don't give me that. Why did you...you didn't have to help them." 

"I know. I just...you were such a remarkable child. My child. By the time I realized what we were doing...I'm sorry Truman. I wish I had been a better dad for you." 

They'd end up crying, and hugging but it is doubtful that there would be complete forgiveness, really.

* * *

 _"It's about time he got out of that cage. I'm ashamed to have watched the show for as long as I did." -_ Michael Muran, former fan of The Truman Show

* * *

 

Court Transcript:

Soapman: Mister Moore, can you tell us what you did on the Truman show?

Moore: I ran the ticket booth.

Soapman: The ticket booth?

Moore: For the ferry

Soapman: Was that a busy job?

Moore: No. 

Soapman: Why is that?

Moore: No one ever used the ferry. Most days it didn't even run.

Soapman: And why didn't it run?

Moore: There was no point. Truman wasn't around to see. 

Soapman: So Truman was never a passenger?

Moore: Once, when he was maybe...two...three?

Soapman: And after that?

Moore: Never.

Soapman: And can you tell me why that is?

Moore: You've seen the show haven't you.

Soapman: Please answer the question, Mister Moore.

Moore: He was afraid of the water. Terrified. 

Emils: Objection! Mr. Moore has no way of knowing what Mr. Truman was experiencing emotionally.

Liamson: Sustained. Watch yourself, Mr. Moore.

Moore: Understood.

Soapman: Did he ever purchase a ticket?

Moore: Huh? Oh. Yes. A few times, yes.

Soapman: But you said he he was never a passenger?

Moore: No. He went out to the water...the pier I mean, but he never got far. He couldn't seem to stay upright.

Soapman: Was the pier unstable?

Moore: No. He was just...I don't know why...he just couldn't get on the boat. 

Soapman: Thank you Mr. Moore. No further questions. 

* * *

 

Truman would almost definitely hate every second of the trial. 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

The court ruled in favor of Truman to the tune of $490 million dollars. That much is celebrity history.

* * *

He'd miss Seahaven, a lot. Even if he'd never regret leaving it, he'd definitely miss it. That's just human nature. He grew up there. He lived there. His family and friends, faked though they were, formed his reality for years of his life. I wouldn't be surprised if he spent at least a few long nights, absorbed in the TV screen, watching reruns of The Truman Show, eyes bloodshot, barely noticing when the sun came up. Sylvia would see him in the morning and after a while, being an intelligent woman, she'd be bound to catch on to what was happening. She'd turn the TV off and he'd snap at her, at least some of the time, for doing that. She'd apologize and hand him back the remote, if her dedication to freedom and choice is anything to go off, and watch, pained, as he turned it back on, or smile in exhausted relief when he got up to eat breakfast with her. Given their relative reclusivity after the trial, it's hard to say exactly how extravagant breakfast would be. It could be a three course meal or it could be boxed cereal. There's just no way of knowing. That much is between Truman and Sylvia. 

* * *

 

Some days would just be bad days. Anyone with a brain could tell you that much. No matter how much therapy the guy got, some days would have to be bad days. 

* * *

 

There are rumors in the art world that various anonymous paintings are by Truman or possibly Sylvia. They are not considered, by experts, to be masterpieces, more likely something created for personal enjoyment, but the intrigue around the works, the possibility of celebrity, is enough that they have sold very well. The original collage of Sylvia has not been sold as of this time. 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

At least they could live comfortably, with the money from the lawsuit. That's enough for a very comfortable existence. 

* * *

It isn't hard to imagine that every so often they'd have a conversation like:

"Do you think I made the right choice?" 

"Of course? Why would you even ask that? You're free now." 

"Yeah. I guess so." 

It might not feel so free, to be always looking over his shoulder for paparazzi, to be constantly doubting his reality, because he couldn't afford to be tricked again. 

* * *

 

It would be over, in some ways, and never-ending in others. 

* * *

 _"Truman and I haven't spoken in quite some time."_  -- Alanis Montclaire, the actress who played Angela Burbank. 

* * *

 

Excerpt from a "People Magazine"  interview with Louis Coltrane actor of "Marlon" on TTS (The interview was run after numerous photographs and reports surfaced of Coltrane and Burbank socializing at a small diner, near Coltrane's home): 

PM: Is it true that you and Truman have reconnected? 

LC: I don't wanna talk about that. I'm done talking about this okay?

* * *

Personally, I think that, after a while, Louis and Truman became friends again. Louis has repeatedly talked about his regrets regarding the role he played figuratively and literally in deceiving Truman and, though he hasn't confirmed it, several other members of the crew report that, in a manhunt during Truman's escape, Louis seemed to have spotted Truman, was questioned about it, and reported that "it was nothing, nothing there." In addition, Louis hasn't bragged about this at all, and has refused to answer questions about the show or about Truman which is not usual of his persona.

That said, it can't have been an easy reconciliation, even if both of them wanted it to be. 

 

 

 

 


End file.
